Dallas
Dallas was an hour long primetime soap opera on the CBS network at 10 o'clock in the evening from 1978 to 1991. The show started out as a mini-series. Premise The show chronicled the tales of the Ewing family, whose wealth comes from the twin industries of oil and cattle ranching. It was broadcast around the world and is still considered to be the most successful drama series in television history, in or out of the United States. Heading the family was John Ross Ewing, Sr, (called Jock), the founder of Ewing Oil Company, the family-owned oil and petroleum company; and his wife, Eleanor, called Miss Ellie by everyone, whose father, Aaron Southworth, was the original owner of Southfork, the ranch the family lived at, and the other source of their wealth. During the first season, it was also revealed that Ellie had a brother, Garrison, who was originally slated to have gotten control of Southfork, as it was set in Aaron's will. But he left to join the Merchant Marines, only to return to Southfork so he could die near the sister he so loved. Garrison's name would live on in the name of Ellie's second son. Jock and Miss Ellie had three sons. Their oldest son, John, Jr. always called J.R., the president of Ewing Oil (he had been named president when his father retired). J.R. was an amoral greedy oil baron who had absolutely no scruples about hurting people and didn't care who he hurt, be it family, friends or business associates, as long as it got him what he wanted. Ruthless and exceedingly evil, J.R. had a network of cronies who were more than willing to do his dirty work as well. Most notable was a corrupt Dallas Police detective named Harry McSween (James Brown), whom J.R. often used as an enforcer to get what he wanted. The middle son, Gary, was more like his mother, Ellie. He was more of a Southworth than a Ewing, who had an affinity for ranching. He was the alcoholic black sheep of the family who was definitely not liked by J.R. and to some extent, Jock. Bobby James Ewing was the youngest son. When the show began, he was considered the PR department of Ewing Oil (always going on the road to help spread the b's, which meant Booze, Broads and Booty), but would later resign that role to join the office as an executive. He was a lot more likable than J.R. and was notably considered to be Jock's favorite, a fact which irritated the jealousy ridden J.R.. Also living with them was Sue Ellen Shepard, J.R.'s former beauty queen wife who constantly quarreled with J.R. about his many and varied affairs (i.e.: Sue Ellen: Tell me, J.R. Which slut are you going to be seeing tonight?! J.R.: Well, whoever she is, she will be more interesting than the slut I am looking at now!). In the first season, she was quite snobbish and self-centered, always worried about people disgracing the family, which she flung at Pam (whom she hated, because she was jealous of the latter's happy marriage). Later seasons showed her less snobbish but she still maintained her hatred of J.R. Her miserable life with J.R. often led her to drink. She would give birth to the first Ewing grandson, John Ross Ewing, III. The paternity was in question due to her affair with Cliff Barnes, but it was revealed that the baby was J.R.'s. They would divorce, but foolishly, she would remarry him, but again, that wouldn't last. Pam, Bobby's wife, who was the daughter (or so it was thought at first) of Willard "Digger" Barnes, Jock's ex-partner in Ewing Oil, and up until his death, one of his arch-enemies. It was later revealed that Pam was the daughter of one Hutch McKinney, a former Southfork ranch hand who had been killed by Digger, but of course, his son, Cliff, tried to frame Jock Ewing for the murder. Pam and J.R. were arch-enemies and their hatred toward one another was quite evident. After a miscarriage, and realizing that she could never carry a child, she and Bobby would adopt a boy named Christopher. Christopher would be the son of the late Kristin Shepard and Jeff Faraday. Last, but by no means least, was Lucy, Gary's daughter by his wife, Valene Clements. She was a sexy, rebellious young girl, who later calmed down. Most of her time showed her skipping school and her sexual relationship with Ray Krebbs. At first, she and Pam would clash (due to her relationship with Ray and her skipping school), but as time went on, Pam and Lucy would become very close, and the two would form a solid bond. In fact, Lucy clearly would rely on her Aunt Pam in a lot of ways. Gary and Valene would later have twins, Bobby and Betsy Ewing, but they were more seen on Knots Landing. Lucy would make one visit to Knot's Landing, but she would later remain in Dallas. Seen frequently was Ray Krebbs, the ranch's foreman, who was later revealed to be the half-brother of J.R.; Gary and Bobby. Ray's father was Jock (and not Amos Krebbs) due to an affair he had had with his mother, Margaret (this change in the story was due to the distaste of the Ray-Lucy pairing). Ray would at first be J.R.'s closest ally in trying to sabotage the new marriage of Bobby and Pam, but later on, when he would catch J.R. bedding the woman he had been dating, Country singer, Garnet McGee (Kate Mulgrew), he would nearly beat him senseless, and would become an implacable adversary. He would forget Garnet and would marry the widowed Donna McCullum Culver (Susan Howard). He would be the father of their first child, Margaret. They would split up and he would begin to date Bobby's long-time former girlfriend, Jenna Wade (played most notably by Priscilla Beaulieu Presley). And then, last, but by no means least, there was Cliff Barnes, the half-brother of Pam, who was, like his father, a consistent thorn in the side of the Ewing family. It was he and J.R. that carried on the Barnes-Ewing feud. Cliff was just as manipulative and devious as J.R. but he was rather less talented at it. Even after his father's death, he still tried to sink the Ewings, but his attempts usually failed. No matter how many times a truce was called, the feud would flare up with explosive results! Some years later, when Jock died (necessitated by the death of actor Jim Davis, who played Jock), Ellie would, after a period of mourning (made all the more stressful due to having to deal with a contest between Bobby and J.R. over who would get total control of Ewing Oil), eventually marry another oil man, Clayton Farlow (Howard Keel), whose son, Dusty (Jared Martin), was one of Sue Ellen's many paramours. J.R. was aghast at this, however (as he had never liked the Farlows and had always been their enemy, due to Sue Ellen's affinity for Dusty), and he teamed up with Lady Jessica Montfort (Alexis Smith), Clayton's unhinged sister, and Dusty's real mother, to upend the wedding by having Miss Ellie kidnapped. Despite their conniving, the wedding went off without a hitch. Later additions to the family were Jack (Dack Rambo) and Jamie Ewing (Jenilee Harrison). They were the son and daughter of the late Jason Ewing, Jock's older brother. Jamie would eventually marry J.R.'s arch-rival, Cliff Barnes, but she would later leave him, and she would be killed. Jack's loyalties were with Bobby and that had never changed in all the time he was around. Other prominently featured people were Marilee Hurst Stone, a former society matron who was the owner of Stonehurst Oil, the oil company owned by her father, and was run by her late husband; Seth Stone (he committed suicide after J.R. swindled him and the Cartel out of money); Jordan Lee, who owned Lee Oil; Andy Bradley, who owned Bradley Oil; and scheming Jeb Ames and Willie Joe Garr, the owners of Ames Oil and Garr Oil, respectively, who openly schemed with J.R. All these companies, along with Luce Oil and Ewing Oil, formed the core group of independent oil companies called The Cartel. They would all have to contend with the troublemaking Jeremy Wendell (William Smithers). Wendell was the head of the major oil conglomerate, WestStar Oil. He and J.R. would clash quite often. Other people involved in the Ewings lives were Harve Smithfield, the family's attorney; and Dr. Harlan Danvers, their family doctor. The Dallas series is probably best-known for the central character of J.R. Ewing, the vain, greedy, scheming, crass oil baron played by Fort Worth native Larry Hagman for the show's entire run. Ironically, J.R. was only meant to be a supporting character when the show premiered (the show was originally to be based around the Romeo-and-Juliet-esque romance between J.R.'s brother Bobby (Patrick Duffy) and his new bride Pam (Victoria Principal). When Dallas proved to be a hit, CBS again turned to Jacobs to create a show, and Knots Landing (which was originally created and pitched but Jacobs created Dallas because CBS wanted a more glamorous show. Dallas character, Gary, the family's alcoholic black sheep, played a more prominent role in Knots Landing) was aired as a spinoff. The series pioneered the idea of the cliffhanger, which was usually some kind of apocalyptic disaster aimed to bring the viewers back for more. One of the most famous cliffhangers in all of television was the episode "A House Divided" in which, J.R., after pretty much angering everyone in Dallas as well as the State of Texas, was shot by an unknown assailant. In the next season, it was revealed that J.R.'s sister in-law, Kristin Shepherd (played by Mary Crosby) had been the one who committed the dreadful deed, in retaliation for his attempt to make her leave Dallas on a trumped-up prostitution charge. A few years later, they repeated the idea of a Ewing being shot, only it was Bobby being shot this time. The culprit at that point was the nefarious Katherine Wentworth (Morgan Brittany), the crazed half-sister of Pam and Cliff, who obsessed over Bobby and hated the fact that he was in love with Jenna Wade and then with Pam. She would get her revenge when she ran down Bobby with her car and killed him. She didn't escape unscathed because she was instantly killed in the crash. The next season saw everyone in Dallas mourning Bobby. In the final episode of that season, Pam, now married to Mark Graison (John Beck), had awoken and went into the bathroom, thinking her new husband was in the shower. However, in said bathroom, calmly taking a shower was BOBBY! The whole previous season had been a dream! Bobby was alive and well! This season was panned severely and was instrumental (as well as all of the prime time soap operas losing ratings) in the eventual ending of the series. Other guest stars included Lesley-Anne Down as Stephanie Rogers, a PR person hired by J.R.; Christopher Atkins as Peter Richards, a camp counselor who was idolized by John Ross. Peter would fall in love with Sue Ellen and that would end when scheming J.R. would try to foist a drugs charge on him and he would drive him out of Dallas. Kimberly Foster as the scheming Michelle Stevens; Sheree J. Wilson as her less-scheming sister, April, who would marry Bobby after Pam's death (she had once been married to Bobby's cousin, Jack Ewing), and would die herself (Sheree J. Wilson would later join the cast of another Texas based drama, Walker, Texas Ranger). Veteran actor George Kennedy would join the show as Carter McKay, who would cause the Ewings more than their share of trouble as well. Working with scheming Jeremy Wendell, he would cause a range war, which nearly killed Ray. This would end up with Jeremy being arrested. Others included Sasha Mitchell as J.R.'s illegitimate son, James Beaumont, whom the conniving Michelle would marry (he and Patrick Duffy would reunite on the ABC sitcom, Step By Step as Duffy's character's nephew); Susan Flannery, later known for her long-running role of Stephanie on The Bold and Beautiful, played PR agent Leslie Stewart; and Larry Hagman's I Dream of Jeannie co-star, Barbara Eden as LeeAnn De La Vega (the inside joke was that LeeAnn's maiden name was Nelson, a nod to their I Dream of Jeannie days), a conniving woman who J.R. had jilted in college and forced to have an abortion. She had schemed with Michelle to buy Ewing Oil, which had been renamed De La Vega Oil. After Lee Ann left (and naturally was threatened by J.R. with revenge), J.R. and his secretaries were summarily fired by Michelle. However, Karma would bite the scheming interloper hard! She would later be thrown over by James for his first wife, Debra Lynn and his new son; which sent Michelle to the arms of Cliff Barnes. Barnes, never one to miss an opportunity, took advantage of Michelle's drunken state and married her and gained 100% control of Ewing Oil. However, once she realized what he had done, she took her shares from him, and gave them to J.R., who became equal partners with his hated enemy. The original series ended when J.R., after seeing what a real vile person he was, nearly killed himself, after a reverse It's A Wonderful Life scenario showed how the family would be better off had he never lived. As for the others, endings were mixed. Boozy old Cliff Barnes owned Ewing Oil; Bobby owned Southfork and graciously allowed J.R. to remain there for the rest of his life; J.R.'s sons were both gone (John Ross living in London with his mother and new stepfather; while James was with his wife, Debra Lynn and his son, James Jr); Clayton and Miss Ellie were in Europe now, living near Ray and Donna; Gary and Val were happy in California; Lucy and Mitch were still in Atlanta; while nasty Michelle, who had bought Ray and Donna's old ranch hoping to spend the rest of her life with James, entered the now empty ranch house and burst into tears for losing both James and Cliff, not to mention all her money. 2012 continuation Dallas is an American prime time television soap opera developed by Cynthia Cidre and produced by Warner Horizon Television that aired on TNT from June 13, 2012, to September 22, 2014. The series was a revival of the prime time television soap opera of the same name that aired on CBS from 1978 to 1991. The series revolved around the Ewings, a wealthy Dallas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. The series was made for TNT, sister company to Warner Bros. Television, which has owned the original series since its purchase of Lorimar Television (the original show's production company) in 1989. On July 8, 2011, after viewing the completed pilot episode, TNT gave a green light for the series with a 10-episode order, which premiered on June 13, 2012. On June 29, 2012, TNT renewed the series for a second season with 15 episodes, which is set to premiere on January 28, 2013. On April 30, 2013 TNT renewed the series for a third season with 15 episodes, which is set to premiere on February 24, 2014. The series concluded on September 22, 2014, then it was cancelled by TNT on October 3, 2014 after three seasons. Revival Plot Dallas returned in the summer of 2012 on cable network TNT, (after an absence of many years) and starred Patrick Duffy, Linda Gray and Larry Hagman, reprising their roles from the original series (Bobby, Sue Ellen and J.R., respectively). Also starring in the show was Jesse Metcalfe and Josh Henderson as cousins, Christopher Ewing and John Ross Ewing, III, who were the main focus of the series, as they were rivals, much like their fathers had been on the original show. Bobby, who had been widowed with the loss of his wife, April, in the original, was now married to an old friend of Sue Ellen's, Ann Ryland (Brenda Strong), who was now the new lady of Southfork (both Clayton Farlow and Miss Ellie were both dead by this time). Also involved in the mix was Elena Ramos (Jordana Brewster), the daughter of the family's cook, who was in love with both Christopher and John Ross; and Pamela Rebecca Barnes (Julie Gonzalo), who was the daughter of the eternally hated Cliff Barnes (her mother was Afton Cooper, who had been played on both series by Audrey Landers). Also making trouble occasionally was Ann's scheming former husband, Harris Ryland (Mitch Pileggi) and his equally troublemaking mother, Judith (Judith Light). Harris and Ann were the parents of a daughter, Emma (Emma Bell), who was also having an affair with John Ross, who had married Pamela Rebecca Barnes after she left Christopher. The same wheeling and dealing; conniving, scheming and backbiting (not to mention a few fistfights) that was a mainstay of the original show was evident here as well. Lucy, Gary, Ray and Cliff made some appearances during the run of the series. When Hagman passed away during the new series second season, the character of J.R. Ewing was allowed to pass away too. During J.R.'s wake service, Cliff Barnes, of course, just HAD to ruin the festivities (when he barged in gleefully announcing "I've come to pay my disrespects, and good riddance!!!"), which would lead up to yet another fistfight that Dallas was always famous for. The feud FINALLY came to an end after Pamela revealed to her father that she had married John Ross, and with his family's help (not to mention Christopher finally getting the shares that his mother had owned, which Cliff kept from him), made him the minority shareholder of what became Ewing Worldwide. To top it all off, Cliff was arrested for the death of J.R.! In short, Cliff Barnes was FINALLY and DECISIVELY defeated! The death of J.R. Ewing, clearly the series most visible character and indeed, one of fiction's most infamous villains, as well as the show's low ratings, contributed to its demise. The show ended its run in 2014, after three seasons, with Christopher Ewing being killed in a car explosion. Primary Cast (1978-1991) * DAVID ACKROYD -- Gary Ewing #1 * CHRISTOPHER ATKINS -- Peter Richards * JOHN BECK -- Mark Graison * BARBARA BEL GEDDES -- Eleanor "Miss Ellie" Southworth Ewing Farlow #1 * MORGAN BRITTANY -- Katherine Wentworth * JAMES BROWN -- Det. Harry McSween * COLLEEN CAMP -- Kristin Shepard #1 * MARY CROSBY -- Kristin Shepard #2 * JIM DAVIS -- John Ross "Jock" Ewing, Sr. * LESLEY-ANNE DOWN -- Stephanie Rogers * PATRICK DUFFY -- Bobby Ewing * BARBARA EDEN -- LeeAnn Nelson De La Vega * MORGAN FAIRCHILD -- Jenna Wade #1 * FERN FITZGERALD -- Marilee Hurst Stone * SUSAN FLANNERY -- Leslie Stewart * KIMBERLY FOSTER -- Michelle Stevens Beaumont Barnes * LINDA GRAY -- Sue Ellen Shepard Ewing * LARRY HAGMAN -- John Ross "J.R." Ewing, Jr. * JENILEE HARRISON -- Jamie Ewing Barnes * JOSHUA HARRIS -- Christopher Ewing * SUSAN HOWARD -- Donna McCallum Culver Krebs * STEVE KANALY -- Ray Krebs * OMRI KATZ -- John Ross Ewing III * HOWARD KEEL -- Clayton Farlow * GEORGE KENNEDY -- Carter McKay * KEN KERCHEVAL -- Cliff Barnes * AUDREY LANDERS -- Afton Cooper Barnes * TINA LOUISE -- Julie Grey * JARED MARTIN -- Steven "Dusty" Farlow * SHALANE MCCALL -- Charlotte "Charlie" Wade * LEIGH J. MCCLOSKEY -- Mitch Cooper * SASHA MITCHELL -- James Beaumont * DENNIS PATRICK -- Vaughn Leland * CATHY PODEWELL -- Cally Harper Ewing * PRISCILLA POINTER -- Rebecca Barnes Wentworth * PRISCILLA BEAULIEU PRESLEY -- Jenna Wade #3 * VICTORIA PRINCIPAL -- Pamela Barnes Ewing * DACK RAMBO -- Jack Ewing * DONNA REED -- Eleanor "Miss Ellie" Southworth Ewing Farlow #2 * MARTHA SCOTT -- Patricia Shepard * TED SHACKELFORD -- Gary Ewing #2 * DEBORAH SHELTON -- Mandy Winger * WILLIAM SMITHERS -- Jeremy Wendell * PAUL SORENSON -- Andy Bradley * DON STARR -- Jordan Lee * ANDREW STEVENS -- Casey Denault * BARBARA STOCK -- Liz Adams * FRANCINE TACKER -- Jenna Wade #2 * CHARLENE TILTON -- Lucy Ewing Cooper * JOAN VAN ARK -- Valene Clements Ewing * DAVID WAYNE -- Willard "Digger" Barnes #1 * SHEREE J. WILSON -- April Stevens Ewing * MORGAN WOODWARD -- Marvin "Punk" Anderson * KEENAN WYNN -- Willard "Digger" Barnes #2 Primary Cast (2012-2014) * EMMA BELL --Emma Ryland * JORDANA BREWSTER -- Elena Ramos * PATRICK DUFFY -- Bobby Ewing * JULIE GONZALO -- Pamela Rebecca Barnes Ewing * LINDA GRAY -- Sue Ellen Ewing * LARRY HAGMAN -- J.R. Ewing * JOSH HENDERSON -- John Ross Ewing III * JUDITH LIGHT -- Judith Ryland * JESSE METCALFE -- Christopher Ewing * MITCH PILEGGI -- Harris Ryland * BRENDA STRONG -- Ann Ryland Ewing Category:Prime time soaps Category:1978 Soap opera debuts Category:1970s American television programs Category:1980s American television programs Category:1990s American television programs Category:1991 Soap opera endings